Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cults and the Corporation

One of the emerging and, in my opinion, most important roles of popular blogs like The Standard is to allow a wide audience to read about the experiences and struggles of ordinary people that would not be covered by the mainstream media. In particular, they can give insight into interactions within large organisations, which the combined forces of HR and PR normally ensure are airbrushed from public discourse.

This is a particularly valuable post on the industrial dispute between Air New Zealand and sub-contracted Zeal flight attendants who are striking for the same pay and conditions as full Air NZ employees. The comparison of Air New Zealand's corporate style to a religious cult might sound exaggerated, but the internal communique from CEO Rob Fyfe speaks for itself:

I have found this week particularly challenging – I love Air New Zealand, the brand, the people and what we mean to the country. Therefore, I have found it especially difficult to see the Zeal crew go to such lengths to project themselves as unprofessional, denigrate the uniform, our brand, the koru and the professional standards of the airline.